This is what the Lord says to me:"Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees.When he sees chariots with teams of horses, riders on donkeys or riders on camels, let him be alert, fully alert." And the lookout shouted, "Day after day, my Lord, I stand on the watchtower; every night I stay at my post.Isaiah 21: 6-8

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Monday, December 31, 2007

The following is an excerpt from a book by J. Millard BurrRobert O. Collins University of California, Santa Barbara titled

Alms for JihadCharity and Terrorism in the Islamic World(ISBN-13: 9780511159374)This was originally Published in July 2006 by CambridgeI find the book unavailable, and several bloggers claim the book was bought up or pulped by one of the largest Islamic charities. Although the link exists to buy the book in ebook form, several people report that though the page takes your money it delivers no book.

"Although the American Islamic community could generally depend on historical American sensitivity to religious organizations and a cultural hesitancy by western intelligence agents to investigate seemingly legitimate Islamic charities, the creation of the Office of Homeland Security nine days after 9/11 could not but focus scrutiny on the Muslim community. The FTATC task force, FBI, and local law enforcement soon found that certain Islamic institutions were operating sophisticated schemes to transfer funds to and from the USA, Canada, and Europe behind a wall of secrecy. Language and cultural mores complicated efforts to unravel their financial transactions or to understand the methods employed by Islamic charitable organizations that enabled them to frustrate investigations into their operations and money-laundering in support of those Islamic terrorist organizations that operated illegally under American law. Moreover, Islamic charities could invariably depend on local Muslims to defend them despite the fact they would never receive or demand an accounting of their donations. Reputable Islamic charitable institutions traditionally devoted to educational and humanitarian works could easily be hijacked by Islamists without the knowledge of the Muslim congregation who disapproved of them.

Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Kenneth Dam made it very clear that Muslim charities, one of the pillars of the Islamic faith, would receive increasing scrutiny despite the fact that FTATC had yet to acquire the necessary evidence to determine which charities had been using funds for uncharitable purposes. “At the same time, there is no denying that some legitimate charities have been penetrated by terrorists or terrorist supporters – possibly by only a few managerial employees – who misdirect a portion of the charity’s funds for terrorist ends . . . [and those front charities] primarily organized and directed to abuse charitable status for terrorist ends . . . . [who threatened] not only their targets, but their donors” in their efforts to extract donations. “Our challenge is to prevent terrorists from using charities as a cover for supporting terrorism while ensuring that charitable giving and charitable works continue.”10

In order for FTATC to begin freezing the flow of funds through charities for Islamist terrorist organizations, it had to build a database. This was extremely difficult, for there were hundreds of Islamic non-government organizations (NGOs) operating throughout the world, and the number of those charities that supported the Islamist revolution could not be guessed. Moreover, like charities in the West, those in the East could be created for a particular purpose and upon completion of the project disappear from the record. Nevertheless, the work of FTATC seeking “transparency and oversight” of Muslim charities was cautiously regarded with favor by the Muslim community and those Islamic governments who were as anxious as the USA to know the operations of Islamic charities in their own countries. The Bush administration announced that it was “gratified by the positive response that these initiatives have received from other governments and the charitable community.” "

My experience is that the functioning of Zakat commities inside Islamic Businesses are deliberately opaq. One footnote - the book was completed before the 2007 Islamic NGO trials in Dallas, TX. There, the charges against the Richardson NGO was largely dismissed by the Jury. -Shimron

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Hizbul Shabaab (Arabic, "The Party of Youth")[1] or Al-Shabaab (Arabic, "The Youth") is the militant youth movement wing of the Islamic Courts Union, and described as an extremist splinter group. However, the term "Shabaab" is common in the Islamic world for youth groups, and Hizbul Shabaab should not be confused with other more peaceful endeavors.

Shabbab is the a hard-line faction within the Islamic Courts Union (ICU)[1] designated as an Islamic terrorist group.

Their origins are not clearly known, but former members say Hizbul Shabaab was founded as early as 2004.

Before the losses sustained by the Islamic Courts Union in December 2006, estimates of their strength varied between 3,000 to 7,000 members.

Members earned a salary of $70 a month, paid for by their leader, Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow" (or Ayro). Training comprised a six-week basic course. A few were sent to advanced training in Eritrea for guerrilla tactics and explosives.[3]

On June 10, 2006 a report in The Guardian stated, "An unnamed network run by one of Aweys's proteges, Aden Hashi Farah "Ayro", has been linked to the murder of four western aid workers and more than a dozen Somalis who allegedly cooperated with counter-terror organisations."[4]On June 15, 2006 the leader of Al-Shabaab, Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow", was said to have taken a load of arms sent from Eritrea [5] (see page 12).On July 26, 2006, Sheikh Mukhtar Roboow "Abu-Mansuur" was reported accepting another load of arms from Eritrea[5] (see page 15).

In July, 720 Somali volunteers were selected by Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow" to travel to Lebanon to fight against the Israelis. Of those, only 80 returned to Mogadishu.

In September, another 20 returned, along with five members of Hizbollah.[5] (see page 24).

The bankruptcy of a remittance company, Dalsan, International, whose staff included the brother of Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow", involved the suspicious disappearance of $10 million dollars. It was alleged, "an ICU military leader managed to divert a large amount of money to help financially support the organization in their fight for the control of Mogadishu during the June 2006 confrontation with the former counter terrorism alliance"[5] (see page 39).

A member of the disbanded group said they once numbered about 1,000 (lower than other claims by former members), but they do not have any weapons any more. Still, there was support for the call of Al-Qaeda leaders to maintain jihad against the Ethiopians and secular government.[7]

This has been posted here in light of the possiblity that it will disapear at some point, as much data about islamist terror groups seems to disappear from Wikipepia over time. As of the date of this post, this data was present in Wikipeida.

Since January of 2007, the Shabaab has regrouped and at least been rearmed. The continue to participate in insurgent activitiy in Somalia.

They have showed some independance of the Islamic Courts Union, in that that they refused to participate in the Summit meetings at Kismayo in Eriteria. THe Islamic Courts Unions did participate.

Their communication appears to be multi-national-Islamist Umma expansion, more interested in Salafist doctrine than in peace for Somalia...

Sunday, December 23, 2007

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A first contingent of 100 peacekeepers from Burundi deployed in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Sunday, hours after fighting between Islamist rebels and government forces killed at least four people.

The arrival of the Burundian soldiers in the rubble-strewn city marked the first phase of long-delayed support for 1,600 Ugandan troops who began work in March as the vanguard of a planned 8,000-strong African Union (AU) mission.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Headquartered in London, HSBC is one of the largest banking and financial servicesorganisations in the world. HSBC's international network comprises over 10,000 offices in 83 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa.

It also says that there is an offshore connection in Guernsey a Channel Island Brittish protectorate off the coast of Normandy in France - Not a memeber of the European Union or a subject of the UK, though HSBC apopears to have a branch there

While there may be no overt policy that supports terrorism, their structure may accomodate financial transactions that support terrorism, and they are not the only bank.Transactions through these accounts, and the accomodation of their customers, Zacat requests is something that bears watching

Activities of their Sharia comitte should be public

Organizations that receive Zacat funds should be released to the public

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

This is a notice from the US Treasury department organisation: It was posted on 4/12/07. In light of 2 Bombings in Algiers 5 days later, some claim by AQIM, I suggest this is the prime suspect.-Shimron

Washington, DC--The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated Abdelmalek Droukdel (Droukdel), the leader or emir of Al Qaida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). AQIM, a violent extremist group based in Algeria, merged with al Qaida in September 2006.

"As emir of AQIM, Droukdel has supervised and ordered deadly terrorist attacks against innocents," said Adam J. Szubin, Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). "We will continue efforts to dismantle AQIM's financial infrastructure and financially isolate its members."

As a result of the merger with Al Qaida, AQIM, formerly known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), changed its name to AQIM. Droukdel assumed leadership of AQIM in mid-2004.

Today's action was taken pursuant to Executive Order 13224, which targets the financial networks of terrorist groups and their facilitators. As a result of the designation, any assets Droukdel may have under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen, and U.S. persons are prohibited from doing business with Droukdel.

Droukdel reportedly supervised the April 2007 AQIM bombings of the Prime Minister's office and police facilities in Algiers, killing 33. Droukdel used an April 2007 Internet video addressing these bombings as a vehicle to urge his followers to become suicide bombers. He also ordered the December 2006 attack on a U.S. company's bus in Algiers that killed one and wounded nine, including a U.S. citizen. Further, Droukdel ordered the March 2006 assassination of a former AQIM leader who had surrendered to Algerian authorities.

In a May 2007 video announcement, Droukdel publicly called on regional AQIM commanders to seek recruits and select targets for suicide bombings. Speaking on behalf of AQIM, Droukdel has announced AQIM's formal allegiance to al Qaida, encouraging other jihadist movements to join al Qaida, and reaffirmed allegiance to Usama bin Laden (UBL). Droukdel publicly announced GSPC's name change to Al Qaida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, and stated AQIM's decision in May 2007 to use "future martyrdom operations."

Droukdel in 2006 stated that he had consulted with al Qaida second-in-command and Specially Designated Global Terrorist Ayman al-Zawahiri regarding AQIM's upcoming plans and missions in Algeria and the Maghreb countries.

GSPC was one of the fifteen entities originally named as an SDGT pursuant to E.O. 13224 on September 23, 2001 and was added to the UN's consolidated list of individuals and entities associated with UBL, al Qaida and the Taliban on October 6, 2001.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Suspected Al Qaeda militants detonated twin car bombs in the Algerian capital on Tuesday, killing at least 26 people and possibly up to 67 in one of the bloodiest attacks since an undeclared civil war in the 1990s.

Al Qaeda's North African wing said in a statement on an Islamist Internet site that two of its members carried out the bombings in the North African oil and gas exporting country.

The group posted pictures of what it said were the two suicide bombers holding assault rifles. No independent verification of the statement was immediately available.

An official tally put the death toll at 26 and wounded at 177, while a Health Ministry source said 67 people were killed.

Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem said the government had no reason to hide casualties and that it was immoral for international media to "bid up" the death toll.

The United Nations said at least five of its employees were feared to have been killed when one blast destroyed the offices of the U.N. Development Program and severely damaged the offices of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

"I have no doubt that the U.N. was targeted," the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, told BBC television. The United Nations has a low profile in Algeria.

Algerian Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni accused the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat of being behind the attacks, using the former name of Al Qaeda's North African wing.

Al Qaeda's North African wing claimed responsibility for a similar bombing in Algiers in April and other blasts east of the capital this year that have worried foreign investors in the OPEC member state.

The White House, concerned by Islamist militancy in North Africa, described the attackers as "enemies of humanity".

One of Tuesday's blasts occurred near the Constitutional Court building in the Ben Aknoun district

The other was near the U.N. offices and a police station in the Hydra area. Several Western companies have offices in the two areas.

Students travelling in a school bus were among the casualties in Ben Aknoun, the official APS news agency said.

FROLINAT resented the political dominance enjoyed by southerners under the presidency of François Tombalbaye and advocated the participation of central and northern peoples. After Tombalbaye's assassination in 1975, tensions between the two geographical halves escalated into a convoluted civil war that involved several Chadian political groups, Libya, the United States, and France.

The conflict was to last through the 1980s. Goukouni viewed the dictatorial Tombalbaye regime as an instrument of continued French hegemony in Chad.

...The GUNT was, however, overthrown by Habré loyalists on 7 June 1982. Goukouni fled into Algerian exile, Acyl died in an unrelated accident, and Kamougué lost much of his base as Habré consolidated his power into a centralized military dictatorship.

By 1983, Goukouni returned to Chad with substantial Libyan assistance to fight the Habré régime through guerrilla warfare. He was the most recognized Chadian oppositionist, whose views carried significant weight, though Habré granted only limited concessions in an attempt to reconcile with Goukouni. The former president reportedly demanded a new constitution and liberalization of political party activity, which Habré did not accede to.

Goukouni met with current Chadian president Idriss Déby on April 17, 2007, in Libreville, Gabon, to discuss ways to end the current civil war. Saying that Chad was in grave danger, Goukouni expressed a hope that he could use his "moral authority" to save it. He said that in turn he wanted to be allowed to return to Chad from exile in the future, and he said that Déby had agreed to that.[1][2] On April 19, the leaders of two rebel groups rejected Goukouni's offer to mediate.[3]

Goukouni returned to Chad on July 30, 2007, along with about twenty other exiled opponents of the regime, for a discussion with Déby regarding the rebellion and how to resolve the situation. Goukouni and the others left Chad and returned to Libreville later on the same day.[4]

The geography of the country is crucial, according to university rector and social commentator Fafali Kudawo.

"This is a country that has a mainland, and a group of islands - an archipelago - and the maritime part of the country is bigger than the mainland," he says."And the country doesn't have a navy to control all that space. It's an open border for whoever wants to bring drugs into the country."

The near-total absence of the rule of law also makes Guinea Bissau attractive to drugs.

Lucinda Aukarie: Tonnes of cocaine pass through Guinea Bissau each week"Law enforcement has literally no control for two reasons: there is no capacity and there is no equipment," says Amado Philip de Andres, the deputy regional head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). ......"The head of the judicial police, Lucinda Aukarie, knows she is confronting a massive problem."We not sure exactly how much cocaine is moving through the country, but we think each week there are tonnes," she says......

....."This is now actually the last wake-up call that the international community can receive," he says.

"Please act now, we have to act now. If we don't the situation will explode."Drug traffickers know that they can move freely in Bissau, they will do it, they will take control of the region, they will coordinate and we'll all be the losers - meaning the international community and West African countries."

A donor conference to be held in Portugal on 19 December may signal a change of attitude.If not, Guinea Bissau faces the prospect of becoming a unique type of failed state - a "narco-state" - run mainly for the benefit of drugs gangs.

I found this quaint commentary-propaganda piece by RIANovosticommentator Dina Lyakhovich, dated the 8th of October, 2007. There are others like it out there too. All by the same commentator and agency, trying to convince African countries that AFRICOM is a bad idea (who knows what US intent is) but what I find most interesting is a comment late in the text, and I quote.....

.... "In fact, what the United States wants in Africa is oil, which will soon account for 25% of American oil imports. It needs to protect and guarantee future deliveries, because competition is growing in Africa at breakneck speed. Apart from traditional rivals - France and Britain - it may have to compete with Russia, which is trying to return to Africa."[emphasis added by Shimron]...........

RIANovositi, the international propaganda news of Putin-controlled Russia, may have made an announcement here.

Look intoGazprom - is the world's biggest gas exploration and production company Contact: , Phone: (+709) 57 19 30 01, Fax: (+709) 57 19 83 33Moscow, RUSSIA, Europe(North)www.gazprom.ruGazflot - russian exploration and ship owning companyGazprombank - services to enterprises and employees of other sectors (chemical, engineering, defence, nuclear etc.)Geobyte ltd - geological exploring of resources of potential regions of oil and gas resources and condensateLukoil - is Russia's leading oil companyMNP Group incorporates - engaged in shipbuilding, offshore units design and construction.Morneftegazproekt - provide integrated development of project documentation for offshore field developmentMurmansk Shipping Company - crude oil transshipment and icebreaking services in Russian frozen ports and along the Northern Sea Route in Arctic watersPolar Marine Geosurvey Expedition - complex geological and geophysical research in Arctic, the world ocean and Antarctica, in inland reservoirsRosneft - russian oil and gas exploration companySakhalin Energy - commercially develop, operate and market the hydrocarbon resourcesSea Soft Packages and Tehcnologies Ltd - developing software for realtime video integration with heterogeneous digital dataSevmorgeo - Marine geological, geophysical and geoecological research of Russian offshore and the world oceananRussian oil expansion activities in Africa have exanded significantly last few years, showing that this announced policy is well under way. But make no mistake, it is Putin himself, not private companies that are directing the activites of these companies. The state has taken over enormous private companies, like Gazprom (oil) and Alrosa (diamonds) and wields them as Arms of Russian government policy. Russia is not alone. In fact China has done he same thing with its largest oil companies, like the Chinese National offshore Oil Companyand Chinese National Petroleum Corporation, but that is a story for another day.Africa, understand this: when you read any propaganda - US, Russian, Chinese, or Arab states, understand it for what it is, and make the best decisions for all your people.....and make it together, or we will be divided...as we have in the past, by our own choices.

I found this little post dated 18 October By Bonny Apunyu on SomalinetThe reason it has not surfaced before is because the Paper quoted his name as Steve Goldbold, and then later Goldberg....It appears that the Somali newspaper is quoting from the AFP directly for his article, suggesting a first or second level contact with the Tubu at the AFP.A Somalinet is an online newspaper focused on mostly local Somali news. My experience with the newspaper is that it provides mostly reliable local news. I am somewhat surprise to find interest two thousand kilometers to the West in Chad....I wonder if there is a Somali - Northern Chad Rebel connection....In either case here is a summary article as written on 18 October 2007 on Somalinet-Shimron Issachar

Thu. October 18, 2007 11:48 am.- By Bonny Apunyu. -

(SomaliNet) Northern Chadian Tubu rebels in Tibesti have captured a United States humanitarian worker participating in an aid project, rebels said on Thursday.

"The Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJT) has detained an American aid worker... in the the area controlled by the MDJT," according to a statement obtained by AFP from a branch of the armed rebel group.

Cash Steve Goldbold was abducted on October 10 by Tubu rebels, MDJT leader Aboubakar Choua Dazi told AFP in a telephone interview. Goldbold, 48, is an evangelical Christian aid worker on mission for the Development Association of Tibesti, according to documents obtained by AFP.

The MDJT "suspects this person is in the service of the regime in N'Djamena to create division in the centre of the movement", said Dazi, saying that their hostage was "in good health and well-treated".

Goldbold was captured in the Tibesti area, some 1 000 kilometres north of the capital N'Djamena, he added.

"The local population tried to negotiate to free him," a member of his group told AFP on the condition of anonymity, confirming the abduction. The source said Goldberg, from Miami, Florida, had been in Chad since 1992. Goldbold has lived in the area "for the past five years, and he is not a foreigner" there, the source said, adding that he "has a Tubu name, Wordougou Mollia". The MDJT said in the statement it was "inclined to liberate this person" to send him back to "his own country," but warned the authorities "of all attempts to take him by force".

It "called on all foreign aid workers to not venture into the areas controlled by the MDJT". Created in 1988, MDJT once constituted a major threat to the Deby government, but was weakened and has split into several factions since the death of its founder Youssouf Togoimi in 2002.-AFP

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

The majority of Toubou live in the north of Chad around the Tibesti mountains ('Toubou' means 'man from Tibesti'). Numbering roughly 350,000, they are Muslim.

Most Toubou are herders and nomads, though many are now semi-nomadic. Their society is clan-based, with each clan having certain oases, pastures and wells. They are divided in two closely-associated people, the Teda and the Daza.

Toubou life centers on their livestock (their major source of wealth and sustenance) and on the scattered oases where they or their herders cultivate dates and grain. I

n a few places, the Toubou (or more often members of the Haddad group who work for them) also mine salt and natron, a salt like substance used for medicinal purposes and for livestock.

The Toubou family is made up of parents, children, and another relative or two. Although the husband or father is the head of the household, he rarely makes decisions without consulting his wife.

When he is absent, his wife often takes complete charge, moving family tents, changing pastures, and buying and selling cattle. Although Toubou men may have several wives, few do.

Families gather in larger camps during the months of transhumance. Camp membership is fluid, sometimes changing during the season and almost never remaining the same from one season to the next.

After the family, the clan is the most stable Toubou institution. Individuals identify with their clan, which has a reputed founder, a name, a symbol, and associated taboos.

Clans enjoy collective priority use of certain palm groves, cultivable land, springs, and pastures; outsiders may not use these resources without clan permission.

Social relations are based on reciprocity, hospitality, and assistance. Theft and murder within the clan are forbidden, and stolen animals must be returned.

Within the overall context of clan identity, however, Toubou society is shaped by the individual. Jean Chapelle, a well-known observer of Chadian societies, notes that "it is not society that forms the individual, but the individual who constructs the society most useful" for him or her.

Three features of Toubou social structure make this process possible.

The first is residence. In general, clan members are scattered throughout a region; therefore, an individual is likely to find hospitable clans people in most settlements or camps of any size.

A second factor is the maintenance of ties with the maternal clan. Although the maternal clan does not occupy the central place of the potential clan, it provides another universe of potential ties.

Marriage creates a third set of individual options. Although relatives and the immediate family influence decisions about a marriage partner, individual preference is recognized as important. In addition, once a marriage is contracted between individuals of two clans, other clan members are forbidden to change it. The Toubou proscribe marriage with any blood relative less than four generations removed - in the words of the Toubou recorded by Chapelle, "when there are only three grandfathers."

The ownership of land, animals, and resources takes several forms. Within an oasis or settled zone belonging to a particular clan, land, trees (usually date palms), and nearby wells may have different owners. Each family's rights to the use of particular plots of land are recognized by other clan members. Families also may have privileged access to certain wells and the right to a part of the harvest from the fields irrigated by their water. Within the clan and family contexts, individuals also may have personal claims to palm trees and animals.

Toubou legal customs are based on restitution, indemnification, and revenge. Conflicts are resolved in several settings. Murder, for example, is settled directly between the families of the victim and the murderer.

Toubou honor requires that someone from the victim's family try to kill the murderer or a relative; such efforts eventually end with negotiations to settle the matter. Reconciliation follows the payment of the goroga, or blood price, usually in the form of camels.

Despite shared linguistic heritage, few institutions among the Toubou generate a broader sense of identity than the clan. Regional divisions do exist, however. During the colonial period (and since independence in 1960), Chadian administrations have conferred legality and legitimacy on these regional groupings by dividing the Toubou and Daza regions into corresponding territorial units called cantons and appointing chiefs to administer them.

Only among the Teda of the Tibesti region have institutions evolved somewhat differently. Since the end of the 16th century, the derde (spiritual head) of the Tomagra clan has exercised authority over part of the massif and the other clans who live there. He is selected by a group of electors according to strict rules. The derde exercises judicial rather than executive power, arbitrating conflict and levying sanctions based on a code of compensations.

During the civil conflict in Chad (1966–1993), the derde came to occupy a more important position. In 1965 the Chadian government assumed direct authority over the Tibesti Mountains, sending a military garrison and administrators to Bardaï, the capital of Tibesti Subprefecture.

Within a year, abuses of authority had roused considerable opposition among the Toubou. The derde, Oueddei Kichidemi, recognized but little respected up to that time, protested the excesses, went into exile in Libya, and, with the support of Toubou students at the Islamic University of Al Bayda, became a symbol of opposition to the Chadian government.

This role enhanced the position of the derde among the Toubou. After 1967 the derde hoped to rally the Toubou to the National Liberation Front of Chad (FROLINAT). Moral authority became military authority shortly thereafter when his son, Goukouni Oueddei, became one of the leaders of the Second Liberation Army of FROLINAT.

Goukouni was to become a national figure; he played an important role in the battles of N'Djamena in 1979 and 1980 and served as head of state for a time. Another northerner, Hissène Habré of the Daza Annakaza, replaced Goukouni in 1982, and lost eventually power to Idriss Dédy, a Zaghawa.

BOSASSO, Somalia, Dec 4 (Reuters) - U.S. and German navy ships have cornered Somali pirates who seized a Japanese-owned chemical tanker more than a month ago and are demanding a ransom, an official said on Tuesday.

The Panama-registered Golden Nori was carrying benzene from Singapore to Israel when it was hijacked on Oct. 28, just off Somalia, one of the world's most dangerous shipping lanes.

At the time, U.S. Navy said coalition naval forces had pursued the pirates, opening fire and destroying speedboats the hijacked vessel had in tow.

"One German and two American warships have been after Golden Nori for 42 days after it was hijacked. The pirates arrived in Bosasso around 10 p.m.," Saeed Mohamed Rage, Puntland region's fishing and marine minister, told a news conference in the northern port town of Bosasso.

In Bahrain, a U.S. Navy spokeswoman said: "We are monitoring the situation after following the Golden Nori since the hijacking."

"We continue to encourage the pirates to free the crew and the vessel," said Commander Lydia Robertson.

The U.S. Navy, which has had a long presence in the region, is concentrating its anti-piracy efforts along the central coast of Somalia after several ships were hijacked there in recent months, she said.

Rage said there were 21 crew members on board.

"We are negotiating with their captors. We told them to surrender to Puntland authority," Rage said, adding that the pirates were demanding an undisclosed ransom.(Reporting by Abdiqani Hassan, and Firouz Sedarat in Dubai)

I have recently become interested in the realtionship between one of the largest investment groups in the world, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority which is accountabale to no one and gives no reports, and theSultan bin Abdul Aziz Foundation, the largest and least accountable Charity Foundation. OIT has been suggested that this group has funded terrorist groups, or at least revered laundered money going to terrorist groups.The Aziz Foundations Special Commitee for Zakat is of special interst, and its activites in Africa...Please send me sources-Shimron Issachar

Sultan Bin AbdulAziz Foundation is one of the most powerful Islamic NGOs in the world, and operates at the direction of a commmitee, but essentially at the sole discreation of Sultan Bin Abdual Aziz, the Saudi Arabian Defense Minister and Crown Prince of the Saudi Throne. He is past 80 years of age.

The goal was to form a Government backed investment company, which would have public ownership restricted to local citizens, sharing the wealth from the company's investments while reducing risk to the citizens. As a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, (ADIA - www.adia.ae) ADIC had a significant advantage in accessing investment opportunities world wide. Back in 1977 this was an extremely far - sighted measure by the then Sheikh of Abu Dhabi.

[ADIA is Uniqe in the world in several ways]-Shimron

One, it manages the emirate’s excess oil reserves, estimated to be as much as $875 billion. Its portfolio grows at an annual rate of about 10% compounded.As such ADIA is the world’s second biggest institutional investor, behind only the Bank of Japan, according to the Oxford Business Group.

Its pulling power is immense. According to a former HSBC banker, it is one of the few organizations Stephen Green, or his predecessor as chairman of HSBC, John Bond, will drop everything to go and see. They will not be the only senior bankers and corporate executives prepared to do this. [Euromoney 2006: cited below]

But what makes ADIA so interesting is the veil of secrecy that shrouds its activities. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is one of the world’s biggest institutional investors. It is also one of the most guarded.

It publishes no numbers. In the 30 years since it was established, it has never publicly declared the amount of assets it has under management. Its website lists just its contact details; nothing more. It seldom makes any public statements. However, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has an influence in the markets that few investors can match. It has unrivalled access to the best strategists and advisers